LeSean McCoy returns to Harrisburg to break ground on $9.5M apartment building
Former NFL running back and Harrisburg native LeSean McCoy was in the city on Friday at a groundbreaking ceremony, joined by a number of county and city officials for Savoy 48, a mixed-use building he is developing on North Sixth Street.
McCoy said Friday that as he was preparing for the day and thinking about what he was going to say, it felt like a “game day.”
“I’m excited,” he said.
The apartment building will be at 1524 N. 6th St. on a site that was once home to Carter’s Cut Rates, which later became known as Carter’s Variety Store and then B Large Sound Effects. The site is across from the new Sylvia H. Rambo U.S. courthouse.
McCoy talked about going to the nearby YMCA. “It means so much to me for so many different reasons,” he said.
McCoy helped to buy the land where the apartments will be built and will help develop the property along with his mother, Daphne, and Vice Capital. He said the project has been in the works for two years.
The approximate 46,000-square-foot, four-story building will include 6,500 square feet of commercial space for lease and a rooftop venue. The 48 units will include approximately 10 affordable units and four handicap-accessible units.
The total cost for the project is approximately $9.5 million. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency has committed $800,000 and Dauphin County has committed $325,000 for the project. Harrisburg plans to request $1.5 million for the project.
Steelworks Construction will be the contractor for the project.
“We hope to get started sometime this fall,” said Jonathan Bowser, founder and CEO of Steelworks.
Bowser said they hope to complete the project by the fall of 2024.
McCoy is also developing another apartment project in Harrisburg. That one will be called JMB Gardens, which will include 41 two-and-three-story affordable housing townhomes that will be located in the 2200 and 2300 blocks of North Sixth Street.
McCoy said these projects are only the beginning. He hopes to work with other NFL players to do similar projects in their own communities as well.
“What’s better to invest and also invest in your community?” he said. “It’s a win-win. That’s, like, the main goal. That’s my end game that I want to do.”
Investing in real estate isn’t the only thing McCoy is doing these days. He is a co-host for the sports show “Speak” on Fox Sports 1. And McCoy said on Friday that the show has been a good experience for him.
“I’m having fun with it,” he said.
But, McCoy could have a new job in the future. According to a report from Front Office Sports, McCoy “will seek” the open co-host position on the Skip Bayless-fronted FS1 morning debate show “Undisputed.” The position was vacated by NFL Hall-of-Famer Shannon Sharpe.
On Friday McCoy hinted at joining that show.
“Maybe in a couple of months I might be going against another guy you all heard about that likes the Cowboys,” McCoy said. “We’ll figure it out.”
McCoy, 34, was a football star at Bishop McDevitt High School and the University of Pittsburgh. He played in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Tamp Bay Buccaneers.